THE physicist fired from Bell Labs in 2002 for falsifying data has now had his PhD revoked, despite a lack of any evidence of wrongdoing in his doctoral thesis. The move raises questions about the appropriate punishment for scientific misconduct.
The saga of Hendrik Sch枚n began when scientists found inconsistencies in a number of papers he published on high-temperature superconductivity and nanotechnology during his time working as a physicist for Bell Labs, the research arm of Lucent Technologies in New Jersey. Although Sch枚n maintained his innocence, a committee found him guilty of numerous instances of scientific misconduct (New Scientist, 5 October 2002, p 4).
But the affair didn鈥檛 end there. The University of Konstanz in Germany, where Sch枚n got his PhD, then began investigating whether he had also falsified data in his doctoral thesis. The university found no such evidence, but on 13 June revoked his doctorate anyway.
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The case highlights the special standing that doctorates have in Germany. In addition to being a technical qualification, a doctorate is considered a guarantee of moral standing. 鈥淚f you do not adhere to these standards, the university has the legal right to withdraw the award,鈥� says Wolfgang Dieterich, chairman of the department of physics at Konstanz. The university now formally teaches proper scientific conduct, but only began the course after Sch枚n received his PhD. Sch枚n is the first physicist in living memory to lose his doctorate in Germany.
